How to track Amazon price drops and enable automatic buying with Alexa
Amazon's Alexa for Shopping lets users monitor product price changes and, with a Prime membership, automatically purchase an item once it reaches a chosen price.
Amazon's built-in Price History tool shows how a product's price has changed over the past 30, 90 or 365 days. On desktop it appears as a small blue button next to the price, while in the app it shows up as a white button with a blue outline or as a text link.
Amazon's AI shopping assistant, Alexa for Shopping — formerly known as Rufus — can also answer questions about a product and its price history through conversation. Shoppers who prefer not to use Alexa can turn to third-party services like CamelCamelCamel or Keepa, which track Amazon pricing history and let users set price watches, though these tools can only monitor and report, not place orders.
Setting price alerts and auto-buy
Owners of Echo devices are likely already familiar with periodic price announcements from Alexa, typically tied to past purchases. Users can also ask Alexa for Shopping directly to watch a specific listing at a chosen price, after which Amazon will regularly check the item and send a notification once it hits that target.
For a more hands-off approach, users can explicitly request that Amazon purchase an item automatically once it reaches a set price, such as asking for headphones to be bought once they drop to $75 or less. This auto-buy feature uses the shopper's default payment method, though it does not account for coupons or promotional discounts, which need to be tracked separately. Buyers should also factor in additional costs like sales tax and delivery fees.
Notifications must be enabled in phone settings for alerts to work. Users can also set broader alerts for product categories, such as espresso machines, by specifying constraints like budget, color or features, rather than a specific item — these category alerts typically generate daily updates.
Alexa for Shopping is currently available to US customers through the Amazon app, Amazon.com and Echo devices. A Prime membership isn't required to browse or set price alerts, but it is required for auto-buy purchases.
